“Juvederm Nightmare”

I saw the advertisement of Juvederm on {edited} in Brea. Dr. {edited} is a MD who had put me though this nightmare. I wrote a letter of complaint to the Medical Board of California and reported him to be investigated for unethical performances for his financial gain. I also gave the Dr. one week time to reimburse me full $900. If he doesn't, I will report him to the Better Business Bureau and have to take him to small claims court. Thanks for the advise, who do you recommend for this Hyaluronidase injection? Thanks for your help.

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You may see {edited} below.  This is used when posters add email addresses or mention specific doctors. 

Can you provide the name of the doctor that gave you the hyaluronidase injection? My doctor refused and I am desparate from a very bad Juvederm reaction. Thanks,

{edited} in Manhattan Beach can do the hyaluronidase injection. She will want your medical records however so that she can see exactly where it was placed. Really if you know of good clinics where they do a lot of restylane they should also be able to do the reverse. The fee for most doctors doing it shouldn't be more than 100-200 dollars but it's good to ask in advance. The enzyme works right away so you can tell if you need a second dose after a few days. Please report back where you decide to get it done and how everything goes. Take care. Editor note: To make or request doctor recommendations, please visit our Doctor Recommendation Forums.

Which doctor refused? Pretty much anywhere where they do a lot of restylane-juvederm injections..they can do it.

Even though you may never ever want to get juvederm again remember that you were just given too much (which is actually fairly common with doctors who don't do it a lot) it could look really good if you find someone to do it who has decent skill and who runs on the conservative side with the fillers. I found this out the same way you did (unfortunately) but I'm really happy with it now. I hope you get it resolved soon.

I actully wondered if I was injected with too much Juvederm. The area above my mouth is so swollen that it is hiding my lip line so my mouth looks like a big red blob and the area of both sides of my mouth is being pushed out from the volume of Juvederm in my lip mouth area so I have new wrinkle lines in my cheeks, especially on one side. My other issue is that it actully hurts. When I went back last week, 3 weeks after the Juvederm injection, he told me to try to wear lipstick and that my mouth would begin to return to normal in about 3 months. Then he opened the office door and told his assistant to bring in his next patient. I was both shocked at his unprofessionalism and devastaed by his "bedside manner." Thanks for your advice

Did he tell you how much he used? You should get your medical records and see; if he used 1 cc and this is your first time with any filler then you could be one of the small percentage to have a medical reaction to juvederm. It seems a lot of the high volume doctors react this way to problems. Because of this I've decided it's almost always better to find a doctor with a smaller practice (one location) and a tendency to run on the conservative side when it comes to making changes. Please report back how it all goes.

He used 2 cc's. It was my first time with Juvederm. I have been seeing a much more conservative Dr. (who I will now go back to) for collagen injections for the last 2 years. A friend recommended this new Dr. to me and I trusted him - big mistake! If there is a chance that anyone can have a reaction to Juvederm, and there obviously is, then I don't know why a test is not required just like there is with collagen. Believe me, keeping your head down for over a month (so far) is not fun, especially when you paid $1300. I am not sure what step I will take next but I will keep posting my progress. Thanks!

I think I will start tomorrow by calling the adverse reaction # for Juvederm to see if they can recommend someone in my area who might be able to help.

I believe there are so much that we don't know, but rely on the professionals like our Doctors to do the right thing, and be truthful to us. The fact of the matter is that, these Doctors don't know much about these products either, but they pretend that they do!! We rely on their experience to tell us what's good for us, when all they think of is their financial gain!!! We, as the patient, get dissapointed, when things turn the wrong way. We hold the doctor responsible for the problem, but all they tell us is "Go home and wait a while. The effect of the product will wear out in three months!!" Yeah, what about between now and three months from now? How do I deal with that? They have no answer for that, neither they care. I believe you got too much injection as well, When we enter into the Dr.'s, as a patient, we ask the Dr. to inject a little amount into the area that we have in mind. THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO US!!!! They do what they want and hope for the best. With you leaving their office, they are ready to recive another patient and another $900 for 15 minutes of injection, and a nightmare for us.... We as the consumer, need to wise up more. I will take him to the small claims court, he will pay for it. I have taken pictures and will not hesitate to show it to the Judge. I think you have to take pictures and do the same.

Thanks for your kind words. It's been 9 weeks now and my eyes look baggy, puffy and I look tired. You are right, he had injected too much Juvederm under my eyes,when I asked him specifically not to make it look like I have done anything to my face. I wanted to look natural, without anyone notice anything about me had changes. Finding the right Dr. is the key. There are so many advertisement on local magazines and we automatically get drawn to them, thinking they are good in that field of work. May be a few month from now I feel better,when the puffy eyes have gotten better, for now I have to live with it. My friends sometimes tell me, "honey, you look better today!!" they are my friend, they tell me that to make me feel better.... I'm dissapointed to have paid so much money to make me look good for my 50th Birthday, mother's day, my fiance's 50th birthday, our kid's graduation, our up coming wedding. I looked awful for all these events and will postpose wedding until my eyes get back to normal again. I don't think I will do Juvederm again in my life. Bad experiences in life, should teach us something. NOT TO DO IT AGAIN. I'm so glad that you are happy now and so brave to have tried the product again. Thanks.

I contacted my previous plastic surgon and Dermatologist, he refused to do that. He was worried about the outcome. He didn't want to work on another Dr.'s mess ups!! He is in Fashion Island, Newport Beach area. I thought he sounded reasonable. Thanks for giving me a few names to follow up on. Can you give me some phone numbers or area where they work? I can go on-line and try to find them. It will help if I know which city or area they are work out of. Thanks again. I really apprecite your help. Have a nice day.

Who was the doctor in Newport Beach? Dr. Val Lambros is there in fashion island and he's very, very good also Dr. Rivkin in Westwood can do it. The problem with getting refunds for bad restylane or juvederm is that the products cost the doctors a few hundred per syringe and the under-eye area is really hard to do. I think all of the doctors who do it have probably done too much at some point because that area acts very different from person to person. The unfortunate thing though is that they aren't all good at following up and bringing you back to normal if you do end up looking worse. It's also very embarrassing (especially when you really didn't want anyone to know you had something done) so I think it's great to blog about it so people can more carefully choose the right doctor for them (one who follows up with problems) and have some idea what might go wrong. One day after the hyaluronidase and you'll be as good as new. I'm sorry it happened to you.

Thanks for your help and understanding. I will try to contact Dr. Val Lambros in Fashion Island. That's the closest location to me. It's so great you have such an understanding of their process and how the products work. After I get myself out of this nightmare, I'm afraid what it would be like under my eyes afterword. Since Juvederm bulged up under my eyes, I wonder if I'm going to have loss skin under my eyes because of it? I simply wanted some shallow lines to be removed, nothing noticeable. I'm so afraid after the Juvederm effect is completely gone, what would it look like? Are you continuing with Juvederm injection after injection because it becomes more like if you don't continue, it ends up with extra skin under eyes? Is it like acorlic nails? Once you put them on, you have to get a fill every 2/3 weeks to maintain good nails? Or can we stop anytime we want? Either way, the Dr. is responsible for explaining the product and ask questions on Pros and Cons of the product. The patient has no experience or knowledge other than the advertisement on the product. Nothing was explained to me! He said sit down and the next thing I knew he was injecting it! I believe he has to refund patients that he messes up on. It's not the patient's fault. I paid full amount, really too much. He simply injected too much Juvederm, which in the long run I, as the patient, will have complications. If the extra skin is too much and uwful under eyes, I probably have to get a surgory to fix that. It's unfair for me to pay for his mistake to get back to normal look again, specially when the cosmatic surgory is not covered under Insurance. Thanks again for all your help. You are great and have a good heart helping others. Have a nice day. I will take your advise.

There won't be any stretched out or lose skin once he brings it back down (I had the same fear). Fillers aren't like acrylic nails, you can stop anytime you want and go back to how you were (only better because your own body has produced a little more collagen). Lambros will want to 'blast' all of it away and that might leave your eye area really swollen for a day or two but benedryl and some corticosteroid cream like triamcinolone acetonide will bring it down faster and then they'll be exactly the same as before you had anything. Also, if it starts to bruise from the needle you can press on it really hard at the office and it will prevent it but you have to do it right away. I guess the reason there are so many slip ups with fillers is that they can expand up to 30% days after the injection because they attract water molecules and stimulate a bit of collagen growth and the extent to which this happens varies from person to person. I now go really, really conservative on it and if after two weeks I need more, I go back for a touch up. If you do decide to get it again, Lambros is really, really good and he would never abandon you after a bad result.

I'm so happy you answered most of my questions. I was so worried about lose skin under eyes. Can you please give me Dr. Lambros's phone number? If you tell Dr. Lambros that you have refered me to their office, you can get a break on the touch ups you may get time to time. I choose April 8th to do the Juvederm, so I have enough time to recover from all back and blue eyes, swelling and puffines under eyes. Month of June has been very eventful for us, and we are still in the middel of it. If I was to correct the problem now, with all the weddings, birthdays and Mayor's event which is coming up, I don't have time to recover.I will contact Dr. Lambros to make appointment after 4th of July, hopefully by then, he can get my recoreds from Dr. Power's office. It is amazing, all the preventive method you talked about in your e-mail, was not told to me by the Dr. or his office. Instead, I was injected cortozon shots to bring down the puffines and double bags which Juvederm created, and my 2nd openion Doctors told me that was wrong to do that!Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR GREAT ADVISE, AND THANKS FOR CARING. I will do what you are doing, once I put this all behind me and fix the current problems under eyes. A maintenance or time to time visit to Dr.'s office is the ticket, you are so wise. I wonder how much does it cost to inject hyaluronidase to break down the Juvederm? Can you give me some idea please? Thanks. Have a nice day.

Well I learned WAY more than I should have the hard way. I went through a killer amount of research when I had the double bag problem. Doctor's like {edited} who do it a lot (but still maintain smaller practices) know all of these things and pass them on to their patients. Also there is a site called 'Ask Dr. Garcia' that was invaluable to me in finding out how to take care of the problem and in dealing with any questions I wanted answered quickly. {edited} number is {edited}. You won't have the down time with the enzyme injection that you may have had with the juvederm though; you will honestly be back to normal after a day. He'll charge about $100 for the enzyme injection. Take care! Editor note: To make or request doctor recommendations, please visit our Doctor Recommendation Forums.

You are so knowledgeable. I took your advise and called up Dr. Lambros's office just now. I am set up for This Thursday at 11:30am. I have their address and am so excited to see Dr. Lambros. I told Sandy,that I got to know you through this website. She said that Dr. Lambros will look at my eyes without any charge, and will tell me honestly if he can do anything for me. Thank you so much. Oh, my name is Ellie Oliver. For your referal as a great person, you should be rewarded, hopefully some reduction on fees on your next visits. When I mentioned my 2nd openion Dr. in Fashion Island, Sandy recognized him immediately, but does not know who {EDITED} in Brea. I mentioned the double bag and puffines under eyes. When this nightmare is over, I owe you a lunch at Fashion Island. Thanks so much for all your help. I'll keep you posted after the Dr.'s appointment. THANKS AGAIN. Ellie

Hi Ellie, How did it all go?

You are AWESOME. My appointment with Dr. Lambros went great.He said that Dr. {EDITED} has injected too much Juvederm in both eyes. So, I showed him your e-mail and told him that you are one of his patients. Now, everyone in his office want to know who you are, to thank you for the good deed. Anyway, he injected me with the Hyaluronidase to break down Juvederm. My left eye turned black & blue and purpel right away,but he gave me ice to apply to make it better. I saw him at 11:30am Thursday and Friday I saw a huge change on my right eye. I applied good make up coverage on the left eyes to cover the purple bruises and went to a fund raiser in Anaheim Hills. No one noticed but still I have puffiness on both eyes. As of this morning, my right eye has returned to the way it was originally and my left eye is doing much better. Under my left eye, all the Juvederm which was accumelated previously, is now gone. My eyes are normal size again. Considering it's been only 2 days since the date of injection, I'm back almost to my normal self again. Dr. Lambros said that my left eye's previous injection has been much more than the right eye. He may have to inject it again on Monday if he sees the Juvederm there has not been able to break down as much as he wanted it. I have an appointment with him on Monday at 4:00pm for him to look at both eyes. My fiance said my right eye looks great and we are both happy about it. I told him about you. YOU ARE SUCH A GUARDIAN ANGEL. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I'm glad I listened to you, and took your advise. Hopefully, by Monday my left eye has had time to heal itself. I STILL OWE YOU LUNCH. You have been such a great support to me. When I lost all my hope, you gave me a reason to be hopeful again. Well, it paid off well for me. I will pass it on to others. For the ladies who are reading this communication, just know that there is hope out there for you to fix the problem. Just reach out and someone will guide you the right way. The key word is the right Dr. and the word of mouth from other patients could get you the right help for you. My Juvederm nightmare is almost over. So is the time given to Dr. {EDITED} to reimburse me, I have not received any communication from their office, but the Medical Board of California is begining their investigation on him. Have a nice weekend to all of you. Life is good again. Thanks to my guardian angel!!!

I have replyed to all of you over the past several weeks. I am not having as much luck as you. It has been almost 6 weeks since my Juvederm disaster. I look like a clown. I have searched the entire Albuquerque area and can find no one who is willing to use Hyaluronidase. My upper lip is so swollen that the actual lip is hidden under the puffiness and it looks like I have no upper lip. My entire mouth area is read all the way around. I saw a dermatologist last week who said the Dr., who I know find out is under federal indictment for using fake botox, injected way too much juvederm. Does anyone know of a plastic surgeon or dermatologist in the Pheonix area that works with hualuronidase. I am beginning to think I will look this forever. Also, any ideas on filing a lawsuit. When I went back to the good doctor after 3 weeks, and he kept me waiting for about 45 minutes, he took one look at me and told me to wear lipstick and my face should start to look more normal in about 3 months. For this I paid $1300. He indicated he would request restitution from Juvederm but I can see that was a false statement. Once he suggested the lipstick and the 3 month wait, he stood up, opened his door, and said bring in my next patient. What a nightmare for me!!! Any advice? I'm pretty desparate! P.S. I am very happy that you have resolved your situation!

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I feel your pain. It's time for you to do something about it, don't feel hopeless. Have you not read my e-mails? There is hope and you should do what you can to help yourself out of this nightmare. I did!! I suggest contacting Dr. Lambros (949)759-4733 and talk to him. Tell him about your situation and see what would he recommend. Just like you I have paid $900 on Juvederm nightmare to this stupid Dr., and paid only $150 for the hualuronidase injection under my eyes. Along with other expenses, my total has been $1300. But, the $150 to Dr. Lambros was the best $150 I paid to get rid of my problem. Today is my 3rd day after that injection. All the Juvederm effects were broken down with this enzyme and I'm back to my normal self again, ONLY BETTER. Thanks to the lady who told me about this Dr. and I consider her to be OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL. If you have checked all Albuquerque area and could not find a Dr. to do this, THEN AFTER TALKING TO DR. LAMBROS, YOU SHOULD COME TO CALIFORNIA TO SEE HIM. I say this trip would be well worth the money if no other Dr. you can find in Arizona to do that. You will end your nightmare soon this way. Call Dr. Lambros and talk to him now. Don't wait. I have a 4:00pm follow up appointment with him this afternoon. If you want, mention my name,Ellie Oliver. He know who I am. Anyway, e-mail me after you talk to him. Not too many Doctors carry this product in their office. Oh, the timing of your Juvederm injection was almost very close to mine. I had it done on April 8th for the first time, and NOW ENDING THAT NIGHTMARE ON JUNE 21ST. As I said before, life is good again today. Let me know, if I can help you in anyway at all if you come to California. SOON IT WILL BE OVER, PICK UP THAT PHONE AND CALL THE DOCTOR. YOU WILL FEEL BETTER THAT YOU DID.....

Dr. Garcia is closer and I know he does it...he's where I first learned of it. He's located in Las Vegas and you can either go and see him or ask him if he knows anyone closer (chances are he does). You won't believe how helpful and knowledgeable he is. He won't refer you to a doctor if you ask via a post on his website though, so send him a personal email or call. You WILL NOT stay like that forever. Just find someone who does the hyaluronidase and it will be over in a day. Take care!

Hi Ellie, It's so great you're all back to normal. I'm so glad you got it taken care of with Lambros. Feel free to email me and let us know if you decide to try juvederm again. You can still have that September wedding now. How wonderful!